Breakaway
by BekahAM
Summary: When Elena was killed after being driven off the Wickery Bridge with Matt, she woke to in transition to find that her sire was not Damon, but the last person she ever expected. Will she choose a fresh start, will she choose her previous life, or will she choose death?
1. The Sire

Elena woke with a jolt, her eyes finally focusing after her head stopped spinning. She quickly noticed the surroundings… the city morgue. Had she died? She took a moment to recall her last thoughts. She was in the truck with Matt, headed back to Mystic Falls to say goodbye to her friends, then all of a sudden they had been hurtled off the Wickery Bridge into the freezing depths of the same river she had been saved from before. She remembered Stefan pulling out Matt, then drifting off into the black abyss called death. She really _had_ died. But if she was dead, then how was she awake?

"About time you woke up." She heard a distinctive accented voice say from one of the dark corners in the morgue. She looked around frantically until her vision focused on a silhouette of a tall man in the corner. "Everyone thinks you're dead. I knew better." The man said, stepping closer to her.

"Kol?" She asked hesitantly, still unsure if it was indeed him. He stepped forward once more and her suspicions were confirmed. The curious part was that she didn't feel afraid of him like she knew she should.

She quickly came to the conclusion that she was in transition to becoming a vampire, if she really had died.

"I'm in transition, aren't I?" She asked him and he nodded. Her eyes slowly filled with tears, knowing her days of being a human were over. "How did you know? Why are you here? I thought you were long gone before Esther turned Alar-" She couldn't finish his name, remembering that if she had died then he had too. The questions had poured from her mouth before she could stop them.

"I've been around. I happened to have been in the hospital, looking for a bite yesterday, when I had come upon a certain doppelgänger being rushed in with life-threatening injuries. Being the generous Original I am, I gave you a bit of my blood. No one knew, of course, I _do_ have a reputation to uphold as the 'evil' one. So naturally, when Elijah called saying to run to the ends of the earth, I knew exactly what Bekah was planning. Low and behold, I was right." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Wait- hold on a second- _you_ gave me your blood to heal in the hospital because I was going to die? I thought the doctor only said it was a minor concussion?!" Elena whisper-yelled.

"Use your head, darling. I compelled the good doctor to say that. You actually had pretty bad swelling of your brain, would've killed you in no time at all." He replied with nonchalance.

"Well I would thank you for saving my life, but I still died in the end." Elena said with sarcasm.

"Technically, I saved your life again, otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me right now." He joked. "However, you are still in transition, and if you wish to be able to make the choice yourself, I suggest you come with me, and quickly. Your little boyfriends will be back soon and we all know they would never let you die… again."

Elena's eyes shot open as she looked at the youngest original brother in confusion. Then she thought about what he said. She knew in her mind that neither Damon or Stefan would allow her to make her own choice regarding the transition, but they already thought she was fully dead, right? What if this could be her second chance, to start over fresh, a clean slate?

"If I agree to go with you, then I have some terms." She told him seriously as she threw her legs over the edge of the metal slab.

"Go ahead." He urged her.

"No killing. No compelling me… And you have to make it look like I'm still dead." Elena told him in a serious tone.

"Done." He said, walking over to one of the doors, pulling out a body that looked almost identical to Elena and carried it over to the slab she had been laying on.

"H-how- who is that?" She asked quickly.

"Let's just say that I have witch friends all over the world, darling." He said, winking at her.

Elena shook off the strange feeling and began to try and walk, feeling extremely weak, before she felt a strong hand on her upper arm. He helped her walk a few meters before they heard the sound of a door opening.

"Time to go." He whispered before scooping her up and flashing away at vamp speed. They were out of the hospital and a mile down the road standing next to a black Maserati. Even delirious, she was still impressed by the car.

"This is your car?" She asked as he opened the door and slid her into the seat.

"The most inconspicuous one I own, yes." He answered in a light tone. They began driving and soon the sun was coming up. Elena grabbed her head and yelled when the light hit her.

"Why- does it- hurt- so bad?" she asked through painful tears.

"It's part of the transition, the light will irritate you pretty badly until you are a full vampire, and then you'll need a daylight ring." He told her, pulling off the highway onto a dirt road. They drove for a few minutes on the dirt road before he stopped the car. It was heavily wooded and dark and there was an abandoned cabin.

"Why are we stopping?" Elena asked as she felt the migraine die down a bit from the shade.

"Because it is time for you to decide. You don't have too much longer, so if you decide to become a vampire, it's out of the sunlight for now, and if you decide to die, then it's a convenient burial site." He said impassively.

Elena thought about it for a second, but she knew she had already made up her mind. Then a question struck her as she looked around.

"What if I decide to go through with the transition? There aren't any humans or blood for miles?" Elena asked quickly.

"It's a bit different if an original is your sire, darling." Kol told her as he rolled up his shirtsleeve. Elena suddenly felt a sharp pain in her mouth as her other teeth moved aside to accommodate her new fangs as they slid out. She put her hands to her mouth. "Now what have you chosen?"

She felt as if his blood was singing to her, that she needed it, wanted it, and craved it. She started walking to him, feeling the dark veins appearing under her eyes. He extended his arm to her and she looked up at him, silently asking herself if this was the right decision. Upon hearing her conscious answer 'yes', she bit into Kol's wrist, letting the blood spill down her throat. It was the best feeling in the world. His blood tasted like how the gods described ambrosia. It was heavenly.

"That's enough, darling." Kol told her as he pulled his arm away, handing Elena a handkerchief for the blood running down her chin. "How do you feel?"

"I feel… amazing!" She said as she started laughing, but quickly found that she couldn't stop. She looked up at Kol, pleading.

"Don't worry, your emotions are extremely heightened right now. It will take a few days for them to settle down, but they will still be more than you felt as a human." Kol explained.

"Everything looks different, feels different. I never knew there were this many colors in the world, and we are in a dark cabin. How is this not making my brain hurt?" She asked, twirling around, looking at everything in amazement.

"Just wait until you go outside, darling. We'll have to wait until night for you to be able to go outside though. That will be our first stop, to procure a daylight ring for you. Fortunately, I know a great many witches all around the world, so it shouldn't be a problem." He told her, making her look at him curiously.

"I guess I have a lot to learn about you," Elena said as she stared at him intently. "Considering I really don't know anything about you. The one thing I have heard were the stories—"

"Of when I left trails of bodies… yes, yes. Somehow it always ends up being the worst part of yourself that lives on through stories. I had a few bad decades… but what vampire hasn't? I mean, look at both of your previous boyfriends. The Ripper who now feeds on bunnies and well, the older Salvatore doesn't need a special name to label his bad deeds." He said, then noting that Elena became a bit scared of herself. "Don't worry, darling, I won't let that happen to you."

"Why did you offer to save me, to take me away?" She asked, needing to know the answer.

"I've recently attempted a new direction in life-which I'm still getting accustomed to-considering it's been a thousand years since I've felt anything, but alas the switch has been flipped and if there is one thing that I've learned in the millennia that I've been alive, it's that I don't want to spend the rest of what I have alone." He said honestly, which surprised Elena.

"So your humanity was off for a thousand years?" She asked, watching as he looked out the window.

"Since the very day that I became a vampire." He responded, turning to sit down in the chair next to him.

"What made you turn it back on after so long?" She questioned, hoping she wasn't pushing him too far.

"I felt the pull of a sire. I knew the moment that you died. Somehow, in that moment, I managed to turn it back on without even knowing I did. Of course, it takes time to come back piece-by-piece. The first thing I felt was the overwhelming need to find you and make sure those imbeciles didn't force you to transition. The person my brother said was the embodiment of compassion, if they would have forced the transition on you against your will, that would have been lost. As your sire, it is my responsibility to teach you, and it wouldn't hurt to gain a friend." He responded mindfully.

"How did you know I died? I've never heard of that before." Elena asked, curious to this newfound development.

"None of your friends have been sired directly by an Original, darling. The line gets a bit weaker each time, gets more and more diluted, if you will. Your case, however, is kin to drinking directly from the source; yes, pun intended."Kol explained as she listened intently.

"Is it like this with all of the vampires you've sired?" She asked Kol seriously, awaiting his response.

"It was, but that was a thousand years ago. I've only actually sired three myself. I had my first sire do the 'dirty work' of siring the others so that I was not directly connected. My second sire was created when my first was killed by my brother because we had left quite a large mess in Transylvania. He was killed about 500 years ago. And you, darling, are my third creation. That being said, my line has thousands upon thousands of vampires if you break it down, but you are the only one directly connected to me at this point."


	2. The Witch

Elena stayed quiet for a while, thinking about the life she was leaving, and the new life she had just begun. She knew in her heart that she made the right decision. She never wanted to be a vampire, but she didn't want to die either. This was her second chance at life and she was going to make the most of it.

"What are you thinking?" Kol asked after a while of studying Elena's face, trying to read her.

"About where we will be going. Obviously it will have to be pretty far from Mystic Falls. I've never really been anywhere before." Elena told him honestly.

"Well, we could go pretty much anywhere in the world once we have a daylight ring for you. I have homes in several countries, so it's really up to you, love." He said as he looked out the window to see if it was becoming dark. "Sunset will be soon, we will leave just after."

Elena nodded and looked out the window carefully, watching as the last light of day passed below the line of the mountains to the west. Kol nodded to Elena as he opened the door, motioning her to follow him back to the car. She walked behind him a little ways then decided she wanted to try some of her new vampire features, such a speed.

She took off towards the car and ended up almost a football field's length past it, only stopping when Kol grabbed her.

"Well that didn't go how it was supposed to." Elena said as she looked at the car in the distance.

"You have to learn to control more than just your hunger. Your speed is one of those things." He said, walking to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, pointing her in the direction of the car. "Focus on the point you want to end up at. Now when you start running, stop when you feel like you are half way to the car."

She let out a breath and looked at the car, only then noticing that Kol had somehow flashed from her to leaning against it in the blink of an eye. "Come on, love, we don't have all night."

She focused on the car and did exactly what he said, even if it sounded strange. She felt like she had stopped half way to the car, but when she opened her eyes, she was standing right in front of him, less than a foot away from the car.

"How did you know that would work?" She asked him as he smirked.

"Darling, I have been a vampire for a thousand years, obviously it comes naturally for me now. However, when I was turned, I had no one to teach me, I had to learn these tricks myself. Think of it as having vampire cheat code of sorts, directly from one of the ones who invented most of the tricks in the book." Kol said confidently, opening the passenger door, allowing her to get in before shutting it and flashing over to the driver's side.

"Try to get some sleep while I drive, it will be a long night ahead. I will wake you when we arrive at our destination." Kol said as they began driving. Elena just nodded and leaned her head against the seatbelt and closed her eyes. Apparently dying and transitioning into a vampire took quite a bit of energy. Elena was asleep within minutes.

Kol drove for several hours, ending up in Savannah, Georgia just after midnight. Elena was still sleeping soundly when he pulled into the driveway of a simple house covered in vines and flowers.

"Elena, time to wake up." He said as he brushed his finger along her cheek, watching as the veins grew under her eyes the closer he got to her. She opened her eyes and looked at him, scared at the hunger she was feeling. "You need to feed before we go inside. Drink." He commanded as he held his wrist out to her, watching intently as her face transformed while she bit into the soft flesh, drinking her fill. "That's enough." He told her while pulling away, a single drop of blood running from the corner of her mouth. He lifted his finger to wipe it away and she grabbed his hand, licking the blood off his finger before shying away, completely embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." Elena said as she looked in the small mirror, checking to make sure she looked somewhat acceptable.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart, its part of the hunger. The worst of it will pass quickly. I just needed to make sure you fed before we went inside." He said as he opened her door, helping her out of the car, then walking up to the front porch.

He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. A young looking woman came to the doorway with a smile on her face.

"Well, well, if it isn't Kol Mikaelson. The last time I saw you was in 1910!" She said, making Elena give him looks of confusion. "Who's your friend?"

"Estelle, this is Elena. Elena, meet Estelle." Kol said, introducing the two. "Estelle is a witch gifted in cloaking spells and regeneration." He explained to Elena who looked at Estelle and smiled.

"Nice to meet you." Elena said before running into the invisible barrier in the doorway.

"Please, come in." Estelle said, allowing Elena to pass through. "I take it she has just turned, couldn't be more than a day old."

"Yes, and as I am her sire, I took it upon myself to teach her." Kol said to Estelle, making her eyes widen.

"That means a great deal coming from you, Kol Mikaelson. I can sense a great change within you. You've turned it back on haven't you?" She asked him as she sat down across from them both in her living room.

"Just yesterday. A bit of change that I'll have to adjust to, but I think I'll manage." Kol said to her while smiling. Elena watched him and smiled too, having never seen a genuine smile from him before.

"Well I'll be damned. What made you turn it back on?" Estelle asked him while she poured a cup of tea for them both.

"You're looking at her. I felt when she died and I became her sire and somehow it flipped itself, and here we are." Kol said, motioning to Elena before resting back on the couch to get comfortable.

"And I'm assuming you'd like to get her a daylight ring, am I correct?" Estelle asked with a smirk.

"Precisely. And while we are at it, a cloaking spell, if you could. I'd rather like to be able to train Elena without having to worry about anyone finding us and ruining it. What type of payment would you like? I can get the same herbs from South Africa again." Kol asked as she nodded and walked into the other room to grab something.

"I wouldn't mind another few of those plants, obviously they are doing their job, but that will be it. The rest of my payment comes in knowing the fact that you've got your humanity back, and that's all I need." Estelle said as she came back with a small box of rings, showing them to Elena and Kol, letting them choose which one to spell.

"I'll have it arranged. Now darling, I'd think you would prefer small and simple, compared to large and flashy, am I correct?" Kol asked Elena as he looked through the box of the Lapis Lazuli rings.

"Yeah, I'm not too big on flashy things. Small an simple sounds perfect to me." Elena responded right before he handed one to her, seeing how she liked it. Elena immediately nodded and agreed it was the one.

"That's just the one I thought you'd go for. Here, let me spell it for you." Estelle said, taking the ring and spelling it to become a daylight ring. "Now for the cloaking spell, you'll need to join hands." She said after giving the ring back to Elena, who slid it on her right ring finger. Elena joined her hands in Kol's, both feeling a slight shock upon the touch. As Estelle said the words in Latin, they both felt a tingling sensation fall over them like water.

After a few moments, the tingling stopped and she motioned to them that she was finished with the spell, but she continued to stare at the pair of vampires before her with a smile.

"I've never seen anything like this before." Estelle said as she continued to look at the pair, who quickly dropped their hands once they realized they were still holding onto each other.

"Like what?" Elena immediately said, worrying it might be something bad.

"Everyone has an aura, dear. Each person's aura is different in many ways; only witches can see them. I've never seen two auras be so similar, only contrasting in the most perfect ways. It's just an observation, Kol will understand." Estelle said before walking over to the door with both of them in tow. The expression on Kol's face was one of confusion, almost remembrance as he followed.

"Thank you, Estelle, for everything today. I'll have your herbs sent as soon as possible, and I promise to be in touch hopefully sooner than 106 years from now." Kol said as he and Elena walked out the door, back to the car.

"You better be. I expect an update about how this new life is going for you both!" She yelled as they got in the car.

As they began to drive away, Elena looked at Kol, wondering what Estelle had been talking about.

"What did she mean back there?" Elena asked as they got on the interstate. "Why did she say that you would understand?"

"There's much you have yet to learn about me. As for the reason why I would understand about auras is because before I was turned, I had magic as well." He explained, effectively shocking Elena.

"You were a witch?!" Elena asked shockingly.

"I believe the term for a male witch these days is a warlock, but yes, darling, I was." Kol responded honestly.

"That's why you have so many witch friends, and why you get along so well with them, right?" Elena asked curiously.

"Precisely. I respect the witches, not just use them like Nik and Rebekah. I know how it is, and they know that. I may not have my magic any longer, but it is still part of my aura, which they can sense." He told her, still watching the road.

"So what did she mean about how our auras are so similar and how they contrast in the most perfect way?" Elena asked, needing to know answers.

"I'll explain in time, darling. First we will worry about trying to get you accustomed to feeding and running. You can't live off my blood forever, and it's at the point that I need to replenish myself as well. How do you feel like stopping for a bite?" Kol said as they drove towards the next exit. Elena looked apprehensive, but reluctantly agreed.


	3. Feeding Time

"Where are we going?" Elena asked curiously as they got off the next exit, headed towards a downtown area.

"The best place to learn control is in a crowded room, so that's exactly where we are going." Kol explained as he pulled into a parking garage and helped Elena out of the car. "But first, we will need to stop by a shop and get you something else to wear."

Elena looked down at her clothes, a dark blue long sleeve shirt and jeans, and frowned, realizing that she had died in those clothes.

They walked down the street, which was pretty bare considering it was about 1:30am, and found a small boutique that was still open.

Kol pulled her inside and made her try on several different dresses, finally settling on a nice deep red and black fitted dress and a pair of black heels. Kol walked up to the cashier and handed her his card and they left.

"My guess with this outfit and what you said earlier is that we are going to a club. Am I right?" Elena asked as they walked towards a flashy sign with a line out the door.

"Yes, darling. Here we are." Kol said as he looked at the bouncer and he lifted the gate, letting them in without a word.

When they walked in, Elena was hit with a blast of music and the smell of hundreds of humans. Elena felt like she could sense every one of their arteries individually. She quickly became frightened of her intense hunger and grabbed Kol's arm. He turned to look at her, seeing her panicked face before pulling her closer to himself.

When she was pulled into his chest, she began to block out the smell of the humans and could only smell Kol's musk, closing her eyes as she drank it in. He pulled her along to the bar and sat her down in the chair next to him. She winced from the separation, immediately sensing the others again.

"Calm down, Elena. I won't let you do anything stupid." Kol said before ordering some bourbon from the bartender for them both. "Drink, it helps with the hunger."

She gulped the fiery liquid down in just a few sips and looked at him, asking what to do next.

"Alright, so now comes the fun part. Pick a target. For you I would say a young man, not too drunk- you don't want to drink alcoholic blood- someone who looks like they are alone and looking for a good time." Kol said as he looked around at the general population in the club. Elena scanned the people before finding someone at the bar.

"That man, the one nursing a scotch." Elena said, showing Kol who she found. He looked like a younger man, looking at all the women as if to prey on them.

"Good eye, darling. Now what you have to do is walk up to him, ask if he'd like to go somewhere a bit more private, say that dark corner in the back right there, and seduce him." Kol said, making her look up at him in shock. "Relax darling, you won't be doing that, it's just the easiest way to get them into a dark corner so that you can feed on them."

"Okay, so seduce him into the corner, then what?" She asked curiously, watching the man.

"Then you compel him."Kol said, smirking. "Look him directly in the eyes and tell him not to scream. Then you feed, and after you are done, you compel him to forget it ever happened and to go home and sleep it off." Kol explained. "The most important part is believing what you compel, otherwise it won't work."

Elena gulped, looking at the man before nodding her head, composing herself and nodding her head, walking in his direction.

She approached the man as Kol watched from close by, keeping an eye on her. He watched as she flirted with the man before walking over to the secluded corner. Kol heard her compel the man, proud that it worked before smelling the scent of his blood. He heard the man's heartbeat begin to slow before he flashed over to Elena, pulling her away from his neck.

It took her a few moments to regain her composure, but when she did, she compelled the man to forget what happened and leave, just like Kol had told her. She had a bit of blood running down the side of her mouth and Kol lifted his finger, wiping it off, only to lick it off himself.

"You did very well, darling. Much better than I did in the beginning." Kol said as he began surveying the crowd for his own prey.

"I almost killed him!" Elena whisper-shouted to him, mad at herself.

"I wouldn't have let you." Kol told her seriously before seeing a girl eyeing him from behind Elena. "Be right back, watch and learn." He said before walking towards the girl, smiling his charming smile and taking her over to the same corner. Elena felt something building up inside of her, her emotions still on overdrive.

It felt like jealousy. She watched the way Kol looked at the girl, and how she looked at him before seeing him bite into her neck, however to the onlookers, only looking like he was kissing her neck. Elena was at her boiling point and she couldn't figure out why. She flashed up to them and pulled the girl away from Kol.

"You will go home and forget anything ever happened." Elena compelled the girl before turning back around at Kol, who was watching with a smirk on his face.

"You seem a bit jealous, darling." Kol said as he took Elena out on the dance floor.

"I just didn't like how that girl was looking at you and enjoying it. It… bothered me." Elena said so quietly that no humans could hear it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I could've easily killed the man that was enjoying your seducing as well." Kol whispered to her as they danced on the dance floor.

"So you were jealous too then." Elena said back to him as she danced with her back to his chest.

"I never said I wasn't." Kol said before pulling her hand towards the back exit. "Now darling, how was your first real feeding experience?" He asked once they were in the back alley.

"I thought it went well. At first it was so overwhelming, but as long as I was close to you, I was okay. Then the human blood… it tasted different than yours. It wasn't as fulfilling. Why?" Elena asked quietly, almost ashamed at the fact.

"Love, I'm over a thousand years old, consider it the same effect as aged wine. Though it most likely tastes a bit different to you than other vampires. It's nothing to worry about, darling." Kol said as he began to walk back out towards the main road to go back to the car.

Kol heard the back door to the club open and some drunk men stumble out, right into Elena. She didn't know how to fight them yet, she hadn't learned that yet.

"You look like a pretty fun girl, doesn't she, Mike?" One of the men said, touching Elena's face. Faster than she could see, Kol had them both pinned to the wall by their necks.

"Preying on young beautiful women, are we?" Kol asked as he held them both with no effort as they tried to fight him.

"Kol, remember our deal." Elena said as she walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, darling, I won't kill them." He said, winking at her before turning back to them. "You will never feel pleasure again, and if you even look at a woman the wrong way, you will feel pain that you have never felt before." Kol compelled both of the men. "Now you will forget any of this happened and go home to your wives."

The two men blinked a few times and turned around, walking away. Elena walked up to Kol and linked her arm in his.

"Can we get back to the car? I'm starting to get a bit tired." Elena said, looking up at Kol with tired eyes.

"Of course, darling. You've had quite the eventful night; I suppose it would be time that we get on the road so that I can show you your new home." Kol said before grabbing Elena and flashing away, ending up at the car in less than 30 seconds.

"Am I ever going to get used to that?" Elena asked as he opened the door for her to get in.

"You will soon. It doesn't take long for your body and senses to adjust to your vampire nature." Kol explained as they began to drive once more. "Now go ahead and sleep, darling, it will be quite the long drive, I'm afraid."

"But you haven't slept any yet, aren't you tired?" Elena asked, yawning.

"I don't require as much sleep, but I promise I will sleep when we get there." Kol said as he took off his jacket and laid it over top of her. He drove on the highway headed west, thinking of things he would need to teach his new young sire.


	4. A New Home

They drove for several hours, only stopping for fuel when needed. Elena slept the majority of the way, finally waking up as they drove down the long drive towards the house.

"Where are we?" Elena asked as she opened her eyes, looking out the windows of the car at the wooded area around them.

"Home, at least for now." Kol responded as they pulled around in front of the large house.

"And where would that be?" Elena asked, smiling as he flashed over to her door and opened it, letting in the cool crisp air. "That's a bit more chilly then I was expecting."

"Welcome to Denver, love." Kol said as he pulled his discarded jacket from out of the car and slid it over her shoulders.

"Interesting…" Elena mentioned as she looked around.

"Don't worry, darling, the world is ahead. I brought you here so that I can teach you, train you, show you the best parts of this new life without distraction." Kol said as he walked towards the large wrought iron double front doors. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the doors, holding them open for Elena to walk inside.

"Welcome home." He said, walking in behind her, just watching as she appraised the house with awe. It wasn't anything special, but it was more on the high-end side of comfortable.

"This is your house?" Elena asked, turning around to look at Kol, her eyes wide.

"No, darling, this is _our_ house, seeing as you will be living here as well. Surprised?" He asked, watching her in amusement.

"I just didn't expect it to be so homey, and so… not full of cobwebs." Elena said laughing as she walked into the living room and threw herself on the couch.

"Well come on, I'll take you on a tour." Kol said grabbing Elena's hand, pulling her off the couch.

He lead her into the kitchen first, then showed her the rest of the mid level floor (just bathrooms, dining room, and day room) then pulled her upstairs.

"There are three bedrooms with adjoining baths in each, and an office at the end of the hall. You can choose any of the bedrooms that you please." Kol said, leaning against the wall as he watched her peer into each bedroom.

"I think I like this one." Elena said, walking into a large sky blue room with a king sized bed.

"I thought you would. It's yours. Mine is just across the hall; I'm going to get a shower and lay down for a bit. I did promise you I'd get some sleep after we arrived." Kol told her before turning to leave the room. "Make yourself at home."

He walked into his room, which had a darker, more earth-toned feel. Stepping into his bathroom, he pulled off his shirt and let out a deep breath before turning on the hot water.

About a half an hour later, Kol had finished his shower and lay on his bed in nothing but his boxers, finally feeling the long hours that he had been awake.

It had felt like seconds that he had been asleep before he heard a knock on his door. "Kol?" He heard Elena say quietly from the other side. In less than a second, he was at the door, opening it to see Elena, standing there in nothing but a towel, her hair dripping wet on her tanned skin.

"Yes?" He cleared his throat as he acted like it wasn't affecting him.

"I- I didn't really think it through before I took a shower. I didn't realize that I don't have any clothes with me. I threw away the ones I was wearing before and I don't want to put the dress back on." Elena said, nervous. The way she was biting her bottom lip was putting Kol even more on edge. He hadn't felt any emotions in a millennia, and the one he was feeling at the moment was quickly becoming overwhelming.

"Come in, I'll get you some of mine for now, and we can go out later to get you some clothes." Kol struggled to say with a calm voice, watching the water drip onto her face.

He motioned for her to come in, and he quickly pulled a shirt and some boxers out of his drawer, handing them to her.

Elena was trying to contain herself as well. All of the new overwhelming emotions, and to see him in only his boxers, disheveled from sleep. She had heard that vampires were hypersexual beings, but hadn't quite understood exactly how her body would react.

She took the clothes that Kol handed her, and watched as he gulped, scanning over her glistening body like she was a delicious treat.

"Did I wake you?" She asked, trying to break some of the tension.

"I'm a light sleeper, darling, it's quite alright." Kol said, walking back to his bed and sitting on the edge, looking down at the floor.

"Are my emotions still super heightened, or is this how it will be from now on?" Elena asked curiously, wondering if he could feel the same thing.

"They should have calmed down to normal by now, well, normal for us." Kol replied.

He didn't even have a chance to blink before she had flashed over to him, pushing him onto the bed and kissing him without a thought. A moment later, she pulled away, looking at him shyly.

"I'm so sorry, I- I don't know what came over me. It was inappropriate; you probably don't see me like-" Elena began rambling, before he cut her off, pressing his lips back to hers again.

"Don't apologize for something that we clearly both want, love. I've honestly been waiting to see what that felt like since I felt you wake as a vampire." Kol told her as he pulled away, pushing a piece of her wet hair behind her ear.

"You mean, you are okay with this?" Elena asked, running her finger down his sculpted jaw.

"Remember what Estelle said about our auras?"Kol asked her pulling her closer into him. Elena nodded, motioning for him to continue. "When she said that, I knew exactly what she meant, I could feel it. When two people have similar auras, it usually means that they are like two pieces of a puzzle, they just fit." Kol explained to her.

"I thought that's what it meant, I was honestly just too afraid to ask." Elena told him. He looked at her as she tried to look away.

"Why don't we just take things as they go? Don't try to overthink anything while you have so much on your mind, darling. You forget, we have forever now." Kol said to her before kissing her one more time. "Now go put the clothes on and come back."

Elena kissed him back one more time before climbing out of the bed slowly, still holding her towel around herself, and walking away to put on the clothes. She walked back into his room after getting dressed and he tiredly waved her over to his bed.

"Come lay down, you don't have to sleep, I have loads of books around the room, I just don't feel quite as anxious when you are closer, and that will help me get some rest." He said, his voice betraying how vulnerable he sounded at the moment.

Elena climbed into the bed next to him, amazed at how comfortable it was, and picked up a book off his nightstand. "Get some sleep, Kol. I'll still be here when you wake up." Elena told him, seeing how tired he looked. He nodded and closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after.

Elena read the book for a while before getting drowsy herself, not even realizing that she had, too, fallen asleep, curled into Kol's side. He woke first, feeling the foreign pressure lying on his side, looking down to see Elena sleeping as well.

"Darling, it's time to wake up." Kol said to her, not really wanting to wake her, but needing to so that they could get started training.

"Guess I fell asleep too, huh?" Elena said, stretching as she sat up in bed next to Kol.

"I might have to have you stay in here more often. I slept like a thousand year old baby." Kol said, laughing.

"Maybe I'll just have to take you up on that offer…" Elena said before leaning in and kissing him softly. She quickly pulled away at the scent of his blood calling to her. She felt the veins grow under her eyes and her fangs slid out. She tried to hide her face the best she could, but Kol moved her hands.

"Why are you hiding from me, Elena. I am just like you." Kol told her, allowing his own face to change. "You have nothing to hide from." He motioned for her to come closer, and he pulled her into himself, her face sitting millimeters from his carotid artery. "Go on, darling."

She tasted his neck before sinking her fangs into his artery, drinking his life force. She could feel his face changing again, knowing that her motions were making him hungry as well. The feeling she got when she tasted his blood was like no other.

Kol was fighting himself. Her feeding from him, drinking directly from his neck was igniting a fire in him, one that he needed to explore. Unable to contain himself any more, he quickly flipped Elena over and got her permission before biting into her neck and tasting her blood- which was still mixed with his own- it was intoxicating.

Kol had drunk from countless numbers of people in his years and never had this reaction before. It was strange to him, even stranger when it took no effort to pull away, immediately recognizing it as a built in fail safe- he didn't want to hurt her.

He pulled away and just looked at her for a moment. She looked beautiful, her hair messed around her face, a drop of his own blood running from the corner of her mouth that she quickly wiped off with her finger and licked it, savoring the flavor.

"Well that was interesting." Kol said as he stood up, looking in his closet for clothes to wear. "Would you like to go shopping for some clothes, love?"

At the sound of shopping Elena immediately jumped up and flashed into her room, arriving back in Kol's room within the minute, dressed in her dress from the night before.

"Let's go!" She said excitedly.

 **I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated anything, I've just had terrible writers block and been busy with a full time job and two kids... :( I promise I will try to update more of my stories soon.**


	5. Training

They went into town and found a boutique with nice looking clothes. After going in, they both looked around, thankful there were only a few humans in the store. Elena was still held over from the blood she had drunk from Kol earlier, so the few humans were not as enticing.

Elena immediately grabbed a few things and pulled Kol over towards the dressing rooms.

"Okay, you stay here while I try these on, I might need some opinions!" Elena said before walking into the dressing room.

She tried on a few basic clothes, then put on a skin tight dress, walking out of the dressing room. Kol's eyes widened as he looked her up and down before looking side to side and then flashing to her side, turning her around and whispering in her ear.

"If you keep trying on things like that, we might have to cut this trip short and go home, love. " He whispered.

"Calm yourself. There's even better ones coming up…" Elena winked before wiggling out of his grasp and walking back into the dressing room.

Sure enough, she was true to her word and Kol had to hold his composure as she showed him two more outfits that made his head spin. At the sight of the last one, he grabbed the pile and her waist and pulled her along to the register.

"I promise I will buy you whatever you want if we go now." Kol said swallowing hard. Elena smirked at him before remembering something.

"Hold that thought, I forgot some essentials!" Elena said quickly walking over to the undergarment section and grabbing several lacy bras and panties, before walking back and dropping them on top of her other large pile.

"You will be the death of me…" He muttered under his breath, too low for a human to hear, looking away as he handed the cashier his card.

After they left the store, they immediately went back to the house and Kol let Elena put away her new wardrobe.

"Put something comfortable on. It's time to start training, darling." Kol told her from the other room, muttering about needing a cold shower. "Meet me downstairs when you are ready."

Elena flashed downstairs moments later, wearing her new workout attire, and almost ran directly into Kol, who held out his arms to stop her before she did.

"Whoa there, tiger." Kol said, laughing as he still held onto her arms.

"Okay, so what are we doing down here?" Elena asked curiously, looking around at the padded basement.

"We are down here to train, darling. I'm going to teach you how to fight like a vampire, that way you can learn to protect yourself if you are in a situation where I am not there." Kol explained. Elena nodded, understanding, and happy that he wanted to teach her.

"Okay, so what's first?" Elena asked, waiting for Kol to guide her.

"Close your eyes, let your other new senses take over. I am going to move around you, and I want you to turn to where you think I am." He told her and she nodded, closing her eyes.

She listened and heard his feet move, following the sound. He moved again, and she turned toward him. He then stepped backwards, and Elena stepped forwards. He flashed to the other side of the room and she flashed towards him, stopping directly in front of him.

"Good. Now I want you to try to tackle me to the ground." Kol said before flashing away again. "You can open your eyes for this part."

Elena opened her eyes and flashed toward him, attempting to grab him, but he was quicker than her.

"You've got to try harder than that, love." He said from the other side of the room again. She laughed and flashed up to him, kissing him directly on the lips, distracting him for a moment before she pushed him down and straddled him, holding his hands above his head against the ground.

"I got you." Elena said, leaning down to kiss him again. He quickly flipped her over so that he was leaning over her, holding her hands above her head.

"You cheated." He said, leaning down to kiss her again.

"Distraction isn't cheating." Elena laughed.

"It is when you wouldn't use the same technique on all other opponents. I dare say you wouldn't run up to an enemy and kiss them, now would you?" He asked her with a teasing smile.

"Nope, but it worked on you!" She said laughing as he helped her back to her feet.

"Indeed it did. However, I need to have you prepared for an enemy, love." He said to her.

"You were an enemy once." She retorted.

"Not every enemy becomes your mate, darling; I believe that only happens once." He responded and she looked at him for a moment before deciding to definitely ask him about what he had said after they were done training.

He motioned for her to come at him, to attempt to attack him. She ran at full speed, chasing him around the room before finally stopping him and blocking the moves he was making. She managed to get onto his back and he flipped her over, onto the ground, hovering over her. She kicked his leg out from under him and quickly tackled him to the ground, flipping him on his back.

"Well done, darling. Where did you learn those moves?" Kol asked as she hovered over his face.

"You tend to learn a few things being around vampires for a couple years, just some observations." She responded.

He showed her a few more techniques that older vampires used to take advantage of younger, new vampires. She knew that he was not using his full strength on her, and that was okay for right now, but he would need to eventually.

"Are you hungry?" Kol asked as he cleaned up the room a bit from the training.

"You ask as if you don't already know…" Elena said teasingly. He looked at her a smiled before motioning for her to follow him.

"Come, I'll make us some dinner." He said walking up the stairs to the kitchen.

"You can cook too? I think I found a keeper!" She said lightheartedly as she followed him up into the kitchen. "Will food taste the same?"

"Unfortunately not. You won't get satisfied by human food any longer, and it won't taste exactly as you remember it, but it will still be good to eat. If you would have tried to eat anything during the transition, it would have tasted like dirt. However, there are ways that a vampire can spice up human food." He said, pulling out some pots and ingredients to make spaghetti.

She sat on the counter and watched as he made the meal from scratch, then as the sauce was almost finished, he took a knife and cut his hand, letting the blood mix into the mixture. Then, he put the last remaining drops of his blood into a glass of wine, mixing it in gently.

Kol brought the meal over to the table where Elena was now sitting and she smelled the heavenly creation.

"Enjoy, love." He said to her as she took her first bite.

"Oh, that's amazing." She said before taking a sip of her wine. She closed her eyes and let the taste set in.

Kol silently ate his plate of food as he watched her savor every bite. After dinner was finished, he quickly washed their few dishes, with Elena's help (only because she insisted) and decided that he wanted to show her the stars from the rooftop.

"Come with me, I have something to show you." He told her as he walked outside, making sure she had his jacket on. Once outside, he jumped to the rooftop easily. He could tell Elena was apprehensive, because she had never done so before, but he urged her to jump. Finally, she jumped and landed on the rooftop with him, her eyes closed. "Open your eyes, darling."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He softly placed a kiss on her forehead before turning her eyes upward to the night sky. She could see the stars much more clearly now, as well as the beautiful full moon in the night sky. He sat down on the roof and tugged on her arm for her to sit down as well.

"It's beautiful." She said as she stared at the light speckled sky. He was just watching her, taking in her complete awe at something so simple.

"I know." He responded and she looked over at him, only to see him watching her instead of the stars.

"How would you know if you aren't even looking?" She asked teasingly. He smirked.

"Darling, I have had a millennium to behold the night sky in all its beauty, and I believe I have a better view right in front of me." He explained to her in all honesty.

She smiled shyly. "What did you mean earlier in the training room?"

"I was wondering if you had caught onto that. There was a prophecy made by a trusted witch a very long time ago, that had informed my siblings and I that part of the spell our mother had cast to make us into vampires, contained a loophole of sorts. You see, nothing in magic can be absolute. My siblings and I are nearly invincible- save the white oak –but if all of that were destroyed, there had to be something else that could make us vulnerable, at least in a sense. It was said that each of us were destined to have a mate, and we would be connected to that person in a way that if they were to die, we would not die, but we would be so broken to the point of begging for death." He explained to her.

"So I'm your mate?" She asked quietly. He nodded. "Did you know when I was human?"

"No. I'm not sure if it was because my emotions were off, or because you weren't a vampire yet. I did know in the back of my head that I needed to protect you - which was why I gave you my blood in the hospital, but I didn't know that you were my mate until the moment you died. That's when my humanity came back and I knew it. Estelle just confirmed my suspicions." He replied, hoping that she wouldn't become distant from him because of the newfound information.

"Is that why I'm attracted to you, or is that my own choice?" She asked, needing to know more.

"No, darling, I promise the bond between us hasn't created any feelings, what you feel will always be your own choice, and that means if you chose to hate me, nothing is stopping you." Kol told her solemnly. It was best that she knew.

"If we are mates then so be it. Perhaps that is why we are so protective of each other." She said, thinking back to the club. "Don't worry, Kol. I'm not leaving, I definitely don't hate you, and I'm not looking at our relationship any differently. If anything, I'm more intrigued. I never expected to be someone's mate, but honestly I'm okay with it." She told him, making him relax immediately and pull her into a tight embrace as they both laid back and looked out at the stars.

"I was afraid that you wouldn't stay after I told you." He said; the vulnerability noticeable in his voice.

"I'm staying for as long as you'll have me." She responded, turning over to look him in the eyes.

"You know forever is a long time, don't you?" He said teasingly.

"Not long enough." She told him before kissing him softly.


End file.
